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Ukraine, Israel and Spain qualify for Paris Olympics in men’s soccer

Published Sun, 23 Feb 2025 11:50:37 GMT

PARIS (AP) — Israel and Spain have qualified for the men’s soccer tournament at the 2024 Paris Olympics because England won their quarterfinals game Sunday at the Under-21 European Championship.Ukraine joined them later Sunday after winning the last quarterfinal 3-1 against France, which was already assured of playing at the Olympics as the host nation.Israel and Spain had advanced to the semifinals on Saturday at the U21 Euros, putting themselves on track to take two of the three Olympic places available to join France which got a guaranteed direct entry.England won 1-0 Sunday against Portugal in Kutaisi, Georgia, but is ineligible to represent Britain — the Olympic team that also includes Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales — in men’s soccer.The England result ensured Olympic places were guaranteed for the other three semifinalists at the U21 Euros which are being co-hosted by Georgia and Romania. England will play Israel on Wednesday.Ukraine will play Spain in the semifinals on ...

Rhyne Howard hits 6 3s, scores career-high 43 to help Dream beat Sparks 112-84

Published Sun, 23 Feb 2025 11:50:37 GMT

COLLEGE PARK, Ga. (AP) — Rhyne Howard hit six 3-pointers and scored a career-high 43 points — one shy of Atlanta’s single-game franchise record — on 14-of-20 shooting to help Dream set their single-game scoring record and the beat the Los Angeles Sparks 112-84 Sunday. Allisha Gray scored 15 points and Nia Coffey 13 for the Dream. Atlanta (7-8), which has won back-to-back games following a three-game skid, set a season high for points in a game and topped the 100-point plateau for the second time this season. Howard made 9 of 12 from the field and scored 25 points before halftime — a franchise record for points in the first half and the most points scored by a WNBA player in a half this season.Nneka Ogwumike led Los Angeles (7-10) with 25 points. Dearica Hamby scored 18 with eight rebounds, Auzra Stevens added 13 points and nine boards, and Zia Cooke scored 11 points. Howard’s 40-point performance was the fifth in the WNBA season, single-season record. The previous high w...

McCormick’s bases-clearing triple lifts the Astros over the Rangers 5-3

Published Sun, 23 Feb 2025 11:50:37 GMT

ARLINGTON, Texas (AP) — Chas McCormick lined a tiebreaking triple with two outs and the bases loaded in the eighth inning, and the Houston Astros hung on for a 5-3 victory over the Texas Rangers on Sunday.McCormick’s opposite-field hit over a racing Adolis García into the right-field corner came an inning after Aroldis Chapman made his Texas debut with two strikeouts in a scoreless inning.Josh Sborz replaced the hard-throwing Cuban left-hander and allowed José Abreu’s third hit, an infield single, before walks to Mauricio Dubón and Corey Julks. It was the first time in 26 outings this season Sborz (4-3) allowed multiple walks, and McCormick sent the next pitch off the top of the wall in the angled corner near the right field foul pole.After Nathaniel Lowe followed Corey Seager’s leadoff double in the eighth with a homer to get Texas within a run, José Altuve led off the ninth with his second homer of the series matching Texas rivals and the top two teams in the AL ...

65-year-old Bernhard Langer wins the US Senior Open to break the Champions’ victory record

Published Sun, 23 Feb 2025 11:50:37 GMT

STEVENS POINT, Wis. (AP) — Bernhard Langer won the U.S. Senior Open on Sunday at SentryWorld to break the PGA Tour Champions’ career victory record.Pushing his record as the oldest winner on the 50-and-over tour to 65 years, 10 months, 5 days, the German star broke a tie with Hale Irwin for the victory mark with No. 46.Seven strokes ahead on the back nine, Langer bogeyed the final three holes for 1-under 70 and a two-stroke victory over home-state favorite Steve Stricker on the tree-lined course with thick rough.“It’s been very difficult ever since I won my 45th …,” Langer said during the trophy presentation. “Everybody keeps talking. Wherever I play, people come up and say, `Make this your 46th. Make history here.’ It’s hard to get away from a it. I did very well and was able to block it out and try to stay in the present. I really felt at peace today, which we don’t always do.”Langer finished at 7-under 277, with only eight players breaking par for the week. He shatter...

PHF players send a unifying message in preparing to join rivals in new women’s pro hockey league

Published Sun, 23 Feb 2025 11:50:37 GMT

Rivals no longer, a group of the Premier Hockey Federation’s more high-profile players issued a unifying message on Sunday by saying they’re eager to join forces in helping launch a new women’s professional hockey league in January — even as it comes at the expense of their league.The statement was released by 11 players, featuring at least one representative from each of the league’s seven franchises, and comes three days after the PHF essentially ceased operations. The PHF was bought out by Los Angeles Dodgers co-owner Mark Walter, one of the financial backers behind the new league he’s helping establish with the Professional Women’s Hockey Players’ Association.And the message comes as PHF players sit on the sideline while PWHPA members have until Sunday night to submit their votes to ratify a collective bargaining agreement and constitution.“Today, all women’s hockey players are united stronger than ever as we enter this new era,” the statement read. “As we embark on another leag...

3 Cuban migrants in custody after making landfall in Key West

Published Sun, 23 Feb 2025 11:50:37 GMT

Authorities took three Cuban migrants into custody after they made landfall in the Florida Keys.Officials with U.S. Border Patrol said their agents and law enforcement partners responded to the scene of the migrants landing in Key West, Sunday morning.The three migrants were taken into custody after arrived in a rustic vessel at Truman Waterfront Park.Painted on the side of the boat is the word sacrificio, or sacrifice.

Buttigieg says Supreme Court case was designed for ‘clear purpose of chipping away’ at LGBTQ equality

Published Sun, 23 Feb 2025 11:50:37 GMT

(CNN) — Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg on Sunday slammed the Supreme Court’s ruling in favor of a Christian web designer in Colorado who refuses to create websites to celebrate same-sex weddings out of religious objections, saying the case was designed “for the clear purpose of chipping away” at LGBTQ equality.“It’s very revealing that there’s no evidence that this web designer was ever even approached by anyone asking for a website for a same-sex wedding,” Buttigieg, the first out Cabinet secretary confirmed by the Senate, told CNN’s Dana Bash on “State of the Union.”The Supreme Court’s conservative majority, in a 6-3 opinion, ruled Friday for Lorie Smith, the Colorado web designer, on free speech grounds, with Justice Neil Gorsuch writing, “All manner of speech – from ‘pictures, films, paintings, drawings, and engravings,’ to ‘oral utterance and the printed word’ – qualify for the First Amendment’s protections.”Smith said in court filings that a man had inquired about her...

Dozens hurt, 14 hospitalized after vehicle crashes into Laconia, NH bar

Published Sun, 23 Feb 2025 11:50:37 GMT

Police are investigating after a vehicle crashed into a bar in Laconia, New Hampshire, on Sunday, leaving dozens of people injured and 14 hospitalized, officials said.Officers responding to a report of a vehicle into a building at 554 Endicott St. around 12:45 p.m. found a four-door sedan inside the Looney Bine Bar & Grill with numerous people injured, according to the Laconia Fire Department.Fourteen of the injured were taken to Laconia Hospital in Concord, Concord Hospital, and Franklin Hospital. Two of the patients who were transported had significant lower leg injuries, the others had lacerations. Twenty people were evaluated at the scene and didn’t require medical transport.In a statement, Laconia Fire Capt. Chad Vaillancourt said, “There were a lot of people inside due to it being lunchtime and a holiday weekend. The great response from our mutual aid partners allowed us to help many injured people in a short amount of time.” The cause of the crash remains under inve...

Boston Pops gearing up for Fourth of July Spectacular on the Esplanade

Published Sun, 23 Feb 2025 11:50:37 GMT

Boston Pops conductor Keith Lockhart says the Pops are ready for their annual Fourth of July performance on the Esplanade.“It’s always been a pleasure, one of the highlights of my year,” he said Sunday as the orchestra prepared for the festivities.This year’s special guests are country music duo LoCash, Broadway star Mandy Gonzalez, and 90s R&B group En Vogue.Lockhart says he’s keeping his fingers crossed for a favorable forecast on the Fourth.The gates open on the Esplanade at noon on the Fourth of July.

Verdugo’s home run in the 9th gives the Red Sox a 5-4 win and a sweep of the Blue Jays

Published Sun, 23 Feb 2025 11:50:37 GMT

TORONTO (AP) — Alex Verdugo hit a tiebreaking home run in the ninth inning and the Boston Red Sox beat the Toronto Blue Jays 5-4 on Sunday to complete a three-game sweep.Jarren Duran went 5 for 5 with four doubles and Rafael Devers reached base five times and drove in two as the Red Sox recorded their fourth sweep.Verdugo’s sixth home run came on the first pitch thrown by Blue Jays closer Jordan Romano (3-4).“That one felt good,” Verdugo said.Verdugo stood at home plate to admire his 415-foot drive into the stands behind the visitor’s bullpen in right field, flipping his bat away before rounding the bases.“I looked at the ball but I instantly looked back at Dugie (Verdugo) because I knew he was going to do something cool,” Duran said. “He’s a great player and he’s always coming up clutch for us like that.”Verdugo also led off the ninth inning with a home run against Romano in Boston’s 6-5 win at Fenway Park on May 1. That victory snapped a nine-game losing streak against Toron...